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Uber's Mapping Project Has Kicked Off In Johannesburg

Uber's mapping project has moved to Johannesburg, South Africa (after Cape Town). The company has sais that the "street imagery captured by our mapping cameras will help us improve core elements of the Uber experience, like ideal pick-up and drop-off points and the best routes for riders and drivers." Added to this, to clarify any privacy concerns they added that they will not be collecting the imagery to post it online or otherwise make it available to the public.

When requesting an Uber fitted with the mapping gear, Uber also notifies riders that it doesn't take images closer to pick-up and drop-off areas as to ensure their privacy.

South Africa is one of five countries in which Uber is is said to be collecting mapping data and imagery to improve their service. The other four countries are Australia, Canada, Singapore and Mexico.

Although Uber's mapping project raises some privacy concerns, riders are advised that they can cancel a ride before going on it once they receive a notification that their Uber is one of those fitted with the mapping gear.

This comes at almost the same time as Google having announced the availability of Google Street View in Senegal and Ghana and extending the number of areas that Google's service is available in Uganda. Google's mapping is different in that no user data is linked with location data and the mapping happens independent of any of Google's users.

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